La Scala in Milan, surprisingly (this year a work by Mozart was expected), chooses to inaugurate its 2022/2023 season with Musorgsky's Boris Godunov, taken from a work by Pushkin which, for thirty years, it was banned by the Imperial Censorship. Here's where to see her and why she's causing so much discussion.
Il La Scala Theater in Milan decides, surprisingly, to start his own 2022 / 2023 season with a work that is little known and performed in Italy and whose choice has already aroused quite a few reactions, above all if one thinks of the war between Russia and Ukraine still in progress: the Boris godunov di Modest Musorgsky.
Based on the comedy of the same name by Pushkin, which for thirty years had been banned by the Imperial Censorship (in the work the Russian tsars and their behavior towards the people were harshly criticized), Boris godunov, During the Before the Scala which will be broadcast tonight Wednesday 7 December 2022 su Rai Uno starting from 17.45, will see the direction of the master Riccardo Chailly.
The direction instead will be by Kasper Holten, while in the role of the protagonist (Boris Godunov) we will find Ildar Abdrazakov, a Russian opera singer well known and loved in his homeland.
Boris Godunov: plot and duration of Musorgsky's opera staged at Prima della Scala 2022
Set in Russia's "Time of Troubles", i.e. between the death of the Tsar Ivan the Terrible and the rise of the Romanov house, in Boris godunov (set in 1598) we see the guards and priests, after the death of Tsar Fedör, beseeching the people that the boyar Boris godunov agree to ascend the throne.
The coronation takes place in the Kremlin's cathedral square, but it is not exactly a peaceful event, as it is disturbed by some riots.
In the meantime, however, hidden in his cell, a friar talks about the behind the scenes of this event and, in particular, of the assassination of the legitimate heir to the throne by Godunov.
A succession of events will then follow, between popular revolts and emerging truths, which will lead to an unexpected epilogue and where the usurper, Boris godunov, haunted by the ghost of the legitimate heir, will urge his son Fedör not to follow his example before closing a circle of ink and blood.
The Ukrainian consul protests against Boris Godunov, but the superintendent replies "We make art"
The choice of Boris Godunov for the Prima della Scala 2022 in Milan, as expected, has not failed to arouse controversy, especially in light of the ongoing conflict between the Russia and the Ukraine.
After the announcement of street protests by the Ukrainian community (not a novelty for the "La Scala" Theater, given that in a certain sense it is a "tradition" that has been happening since 1968), in recent days there has been also feel the Ukrainian consul, asking to cancel the scheduled work.
Accusations which, however, the Superintendent of the Scala, Dominique Meyer, didn't think twice about returning to sender:
“We make art, not propaganda for Putin. There's nothing wrong with Ukraine, instead there's a show whose preparation began three years ago, a great masterpiece. And, I repeat, I'm not ready to hide when I read Dostoyevsky or Pushkin."
And not wrongly because, reading the libretto by Musorgsky, as well as the original comedy by Pushkin, in fact one can be glimpsed subtle criticism to zar and, above all, to some of their own behavior, Such as abolition of the popular protests.
It should not be forgotten that, when the Russian composer was asked to write and set to music an opera on the Boris godunov di Pushkin, at first he did it with some fear, because the play in question was vetoed by the Imperial Censorship, which had lasted for thirty years, and which forbade it to be staged precisely because the tsars were represented (and not in an "honourable" way.
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Image credits: Instagram profile Cinema Saronno (@cinemasaronno)
